When Richard Nixon purged his own Justice Department to stop a Watergate investigation

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: On October 20, 1973, President Richard Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox. When his attorney general and deputy attorney general refused the order and resigned in protest, Nixon turned to the solicitor general to complete the task. The resulting political firestorm accelerated Nixon's eventual resignation from office.

The Saturday Night Massacre was the climax of a constitutional crisis triggered by the Watergate scandal. After burglars were arrested at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972, investigations eventually revealed a White House cover-up. A pivotal moment occurred when White House staffer Alexander Butterfield disclosed that Nixon had secretly recorded every conversation in the Oval Office. Special prosecutor Archibald Cox, appointed to investigate the scandal, subpoenaed these tapes, but Nixon refused to comply.

On October 20, 1973, Nixon demanded that Attorney General Elliot Richardson fire Cox. Richardson, who had promised Congress he would only remove the prosecutor for cause, refused and resigned. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to do the same; he also refused and resigned. Finally, Solicitor General Robert Bork, serving as acting attorney general, carried out the dismissal. Although the White House initially hoped the public would be distracted by a Middle East war, the maneuver backfired spectacularly.

The public reaction was immediate and intense. More than 50,000 telegrams flooded Capitol Hill, with many demanding impeachment. Within days, polls showed a plurality of Americans supported removing the president. While Nixon eventually appointed a new special counsel, Leon Jaworski, the damage to his administration was irreversible. By the spring of 1974, the House of Representatives began formal impeachment hearings. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, less than ten months after the massacre.

The event remains a landmark in American political history, illustrating the limits of executive power. Federal judge Gerhard Gesell later ruled the dismissal of Cox was illegal, as it violated the regulations governing the special prosecutor's office. The crisis fundamentally shifted public opinion, transforming a dormant scandal into a national movement that ultimately ended Nixon's presidency.

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